Everyone could use a little extra money. If you know how to get paid to write, you can earn that money online from the comfort of your home—or anywhere else with an internet connection.
However, you won’t find good writing jobs on just any gig website or marketplace. If you want to get good pay for your writing, you’ll need to know where the good writing jobs are at. You’ll also need to know how to write, what it takes to get paid to write, and the basics of content writing.
We’ll go through the basics, then cover where you can find writing gigs and opportunities to get you to become a professional writer.
Let’s get started.
What you need to know to get paid to write
Writing content is a popular and effective way of generating money online. Writing for a blog, website, or company can be a very flexible and effective way to earn money online from almost anywhere. All you need is a good WiFi connection.
As an online writer, you can choose when and where you want to work, giving you a huge level of freedom, either to relax or to pursue another source of income.
However, writing for a living isn’t just about the fun and dynamic lifestyle it can offer. Building a good reputation and getting the right gigs will take time. You’re also likely to face rejection, especially at first.
Writing isn’t always as easy as getting behind the keyboard for an hour or two. It can involve deep research, constant edits, and even complete rewrites.
Even once you develop the right skills, finding writing jobs isn’t easy. A lot of companies don’t disclose where they get their freelance writers, while content mills will pay extremely low wages.
Once you know how to write and what to expect, you can move forward to finding who to write for.
8 Ways you can get paid to write
Here are eight ways to get paid to write:
1. Use freelance marketplaces and content mills
Freelance websites, including content mills, are websites that offer work to writers, although the pay is very low.
Freelance websites connect freelancers with companies. Users are screened in advance, and search features help connect potential clients and freelancers. However, the payment will usually be funneled through the platform, so the website takes its cut one way or another.
Content mills are also websites that are always looking for good writers. However, that’s because writers are offered low pay. Most content mills pay around 2 to 4 cents per word at most, so they’re not the best place to find reliable, high-revenue income.
2. Write articles online
Often the best way to get paid to write immediately is by contacting the client directly and getting paid to write articles for blogs, magazines, and other websites.
Nowadays, many companies try to attract new customers through SEO-friendly blog articles and inbound marketing. These articles can attract traffic and generate leads organically. That’s why many answers to queries are links to professional blogs from leading companies.
To get paid to write these articles, you’ll have to learn SEO basics along with the strategies behind inbound marketing. You may also need to learn how to create SEO content strategies and how to target the right keywords, among other skills.
Since SEO changes so quickly, you may also want to keep up with current SEO standards and best practices.
Once you’ve written a few sample articles to impress potential clients, you can search for companies online and use tools to find the email addresses of the people in charge of hiring writers.
3. Find gigs on job boards
Job boards can be great places to find reliable writing work. Many online job boards feature content writing as a skill set, so it’s easy to find companies looking to pay users to write their content.
You can easily find writing gigs using the writing job boards listed at the end of the article.
Once you find the right job, you can use online contracts to solidify your position as a freelancer and establish long-lasting relationships with your clients.
4. Write fiction and poetry
It’s now easier than ever to get paid for writing poetry and fiction online. From large websites to small and niche subreddits, writing good and personalized fiction and poetry on command is a good way of getting paid to write.
Zizzle, for example, pays for flash fiction pieces for kids and adults alike. The Arcanist pays $10 for 100-word microstories, and Craft Literary pays up to $200 for original fiction.
You can also find multiple subreddits dedicated to the creation of different kinds of poetry and stories, some paying quite well for personalized pieces.
If you’re a storyteller and can create interesting and personalized fiction and poetry, there’s someone out there willing to pay you to write for them.
5. Become a copywriter
Copywriting is used by companies to compel their readers to take a specific action. Although copywriting may seem no different from other forms of writing, it requires a very different skillset.
As a copywriter, you’re expected to know multiple methods of persuasion, and you must have a good understanding of different marketing strategies.
Some employers will hire copywriters without formal qualifications. However, due to the nature of the content, many companies prefer hiring writers with some advertising and media qualifications.
If you think you have what it takes, start by developing a portfolio or website to show your work, and update it as you get more customers.
6. Start and monetize a blog
If you don’t want to work for someone else, you can get paid to write your own blog or website.
Personal blogs are not as popular as they once were, but personal bloggers still get paid to write, especially when they can pair their writing with a good following on social media. You can also write a professional blog on specific niches, especially if you have good insight into certain topics.
Start by choosing the niche you’ll be writing for and setting up your blog or website. Then, you can start developing content to fill up the blog. Once you have enough content for users to interact with, you can offer free content to other large blogs in your niche by contributing guest posts. This is a great way to increase your audience and will help to foster and grow your following.
Then, you can monetize your blog by applying to high-paying affiliate programs, setting up Google Ads, or as complex as influencer marketing contracts and other specialized sponsorships.
7. Become a technical writer
Technical writers create manuals, guides, and other technical communication content. As the name implies, this is more technical-related writing as opposed to creative or commercial writing.
Writers will often need to take time to learn about a product or service, figure out how it works, and then find the easiest and simplest way of describing it to others. That’s why most technical writer positions require a degree and experience with similar products, and why clients are willing to pay more to get the right technical writers.
8. Self-publish a book online
Publishing a book is easier than ever, especially if you’re not interested in your book being printed on paper.
Nowadays, thanks to the popularity of platforms like Kindle, self-publishing and selling your ebooks is accessible to practically any writer with an internet connection. However, it’s this over availability that can quickly drown your carefully-crafted book into the sea of a saturated market. Even if the book achieves notoriety, you’re very unlikely to live off your earnings.
That being said, if you’re a dedicated and prolific author, you can write both fiction and non-fiction books, publish them online, and find a niche that loves and purchases your books.
Where to find jobs to get paid to write
Here are a few ways of finding jobs that will pay you to write.
Get alerted to writing gigs
There’s no easier way of finding writing jobs than getting alerts and personalized feeds of potential writing gigs. That’s what SolidGigs specializes in doing.
With SolidGigs, you don’t have to scroll through websites and job listings for hours just to find one or two that are good for you. Instead, you get daily, hand-picked quality leads from SolidGigs’ team, offering you the best gigs for your skillset.
Learn more about how to sign up for SolidGigs today.
Freelance Websites
Here are a few freelance websites for writers:
Upwork
Upwork is a large and popular freelancing platform that helps connect a variety of online professionals and clients. Although not without its flaws, Upwork is still a popular choice, especially among first-timers looking to build their portfolio.
The platform allows users to build a very detailed profile to help them find the gigs they’re best suited for. Upwork charges users credits called “Connects” to apply for jobs, and charges a fee for earnings generated through the platform.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a freelance-service marketplace that allows users to create profiles, promote gigs, and even bid on projects.
Since anyone can sign up, set up their profile, and start offering projects for free, the platform is somewhat oversaturated with gigs. So you may need to find creative ways of breaking through the noise or pay the platform to promote yourself and reach more leads.
The platform charges a 20% fee for each gig, which can cut deeply into your earnings.
Blogs, Magazines, and Journals
Here are some blogs, magazines, and journals that will pay you to write for them:
Cracked.com: $100 – $200
Cracked.com is a website based on Cracked magazine that publishes humoristic and creative articles.
The website opens its doors to anyone without requiring any previous experience, as long as they can write good and humorous content. In the past, you could submit your article idea along with five subheadings for their approval. However, after their most recent acquisition, they’ve changed how they receive writing pitches.
Reader’s Digest
Reader’s Digest is one of the easiest and simplest ways to get paid to write per article. The magazine pays $100 for selected submissions of jokes and 100-word stories.
Reader’s Digest is a well-established brand that offers competitive pay. While you probably can’t live off of writing articles for Reader’s Digest, it’s still worth sending your submission. You may get your articles published in a reputable magazine and find yourself $100 richer.
Job boards
Here are a couple of good job boards to get you started:
ProBlogger
ProBlogger is a leader in helping freelance workers in the writing and editing space find the jobs they’re looking for. Although the leads aren’t always plentiful compared to other writing job boards, they tend to be from better companies with higher budgets.
The platform is free for writers, and therefore very competitive. Landing a good job can be a matter of luck and good timing.
MediaBistro
MediaBistro covers all media industry-related jobs.There, you’ll find clients as large as CNN, as well as small, highly-specialized media websites.
The platform allows users to create an account for free and set up job alerts based on their needs. Users can also create profiles to attract potential recruiters looking for writers with their skill sets.
This job board is best for users looking to get paid for writing in journalism and marketing spaces.
BloggingPro
BloggingPro is another job board designed for writers, particularly those looking for blogging jobs.
The platform is also free to users, and, since it’s more affordable than ProBlogger, there are more leads to browse through. BloggingPro is a good platform for writers looking to get paid per article or per word, rather than those looking for full-time writing gigs.
However, like many other job boards, persistence is key. With a high level of competition, users will likely need to spend time monitoring recent gigs and being among the first to bid on them.
Conclusion
There are multiple ways to get paid to write. If you have the time and motivation to become a good writer, you can find writing gigs on job boards, subreddits, freelance platforms, and well-known magazine and blog sites.
However, if you want to spend less time looking for writing gigs and more time writing, let SolidGigs takeover the search. They’ll deliver personalized writing gigs directly to you.
Learn more here.
Keep the conversation going...
Over 10,000 of us are having daily conversations over in our free Facebook group and we'd love to see you there. Join us!
